Business coaching amid trust and credibility: African insights

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines trust as “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength or truth of someone or something.” This definition extends a wholesome picture of the “trust” concept. Trust is the live wire that ignites bonds and possibly breaks relationships depending on the channel it’s swayed to. Ideally, trust is the demonstrative art of building up good and emulation-worthy character and personhood to a desired point where people can confidently view your contribution, craft or business with absolute truth. 

Already, trust is embedded in the communal living of Africans and the historical legacies build overtime. This cannot be easily broken as there are huge repercussions if the blueprint of certain actions are flouted. Even if not pegged at a hundred percent, Africans and her people to a greater extent uphold the value of trust and strive to reflect that virtue wherever and with whoever. This often leads to a gateway of meaningful relationships with people and introduces the possibility of business collaboration and partnership which is one of the most favourable perks from being trustworthy. 

Following the core objective of this article, business coaches are expected to wear the cloak of trust and credibility to enhance their operation within Africa. In this regard, foremost leadership expert, Stephen M.R. Covey outrightly asserts that “trust is the glue of life.” This easily translates the importance of trust as it’s the very needed element to get people on your side and sustain these people to be present doing life with you. Business coaches, therefore, must understand the value of trust in the African communities and develop their character to embrace a degree of honesty, authenticity, integrity and positivity in order to navigate interpersonal relationships with Africans. If these attributes are demonstrated to a believable extent, business coaches should be assured that Africans would tilt towards high engagement with them, in other words being clients and business partners.

Credibility, on the other hand, can be best defined as the quality or capability of inspiring belief. Credibility is the effort put in place for a job, product or service to enable believability. The credible virtue is one among other good virtues that is secured only while it is earned. You can’t claim credibility when there’s no work to show for it. Professionals of any field find this very critical for their careers because whether they like it or not it influences how messages and intentions of their personal brands are perceived and received. 

Setting a trail of credibility demands showcased expertise; dishing out jobs on the spot and sharing ideas organically for audiences to resonate with. This is also often laced with good presentation skills; where presentation of information goes handy with clarity, accuracy, good timing and an all round spark of professionalism. Even when a professional has a dented past, practicing the above tips with absolute positive intentions can forgive the reputation leading to a redefined image. 

Recent social media outcome has led to the rise of misinformation and disinformation, this can lead to stains on the credibility of professionals, inclusive business coaches. Africans can be easily swayed with sensational headlines and malicious news, it’s therefore paramount that business coaches consistently showcase their portfolio and reinforce their successes in the minds of their audience. These dividends would be testament to their competence leaving room for false news to have zero impact. 

Cultural Sensitivity and Adaptability

The cultural landscape in Africa is vast, so much that it demands nothing less than an open arm to welcome the intrusion of different cultures and the variety of values that they represent. Business coaches must exhibit zealousness when dealing with clients or people of African cultures because what may be applicable to client A in Ghana is totally different from the normal with Client B in South Africa. The multiculturalism in Africa is so overwhelming that professionals or intending investors try as much as they can to either narrow their purpose to a given region or country or be patient enough to understand the differences that lie between the cultures. 

Business coaches are advised to invest time and resources to understand the differing perspectives clouding various cultures and possible ways on how to navigate these people leading to a productive end. They have to be culturally sensitive at all times and never be quick to know it all as some cultures are only learnt while in the experience itself. 

Coaches on this note should be willing to make adaptability a goal within these communities. That their coaching patterns be tailored according to familiar cultural preferences to eliminate any form of misunderstanding and vagueness. Africans are highly indigenous, hence the need to weave coaching approaches with the concept of storytelling, symbolism and parables in order to deepen resonance with clients becomes paramount. 

Digging the wells of data related to trust, Edelman Barometer believes that trust is very essential to the growth of any organization but in relation to government, he observes that the trust level varies as compared to the expected outlook. Given the attritsueeoinding Africans, trust ought to be the last factor that challenges the people’s growth. However, Edelman believes that some African citizens exhibit a poor level of trust in their government while the other divide records high trust. This disparity is the recent trust gauge on Africans. To augment, Harvard Business Review reveals that trust and credibility are key factors that fosters employee engagement, customer loyalty, and organizational performance in Africa. It’s highly advised that organizations and brands build on ensuring that their clientele trust the basis of their organization through pragmatic leadership, transparency and fairness in order to have a good landing in the market space amongst competitors. 

Conclusion

Trust and Credibility are two strong factors that cannot be overlooked in the world of business coaching. As a business coach striving towards making these attributes as brand trademarks should be a prioritised goal. Understanding that Africans and its cultural dynamic and going through the system to acquire talents are dependent on the evidenced attributes of trust and credibility, hence its heightened importance 

Now is the time to flag integrity, authenticity, consistency, transparency and a track record of commitment as this sums up a vital portfolio to gain the confidence and trust needed to attract and retain clients in the business coaching industry. 

Oladipupo Timothy Clement is a highly accomplished Real Estate and Business Coach with a career spanning over two decades. He is the Founder and CEO of  Lifepage®️ Property & Investments Limited, a leading real estate company in Nigeria.

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